Safety razor



Feb. 15, 1938. I R. E. THOMPSQNET AL 55 SAFETY RAZOR Filed Oct. 23, 1935 Fig.1

Patented Feb. 15, 1938 t UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY RAZOR Ralph E. Thompson, Brookline, and Charles J. Emerson, Winchester, Mass, and Bennett G. Jansson, KitteryFoint, Maine, assignors to Emerson Apparatus Company, Melrose, Mass, a corporation of Rhode Island Applicatio-n'October 23, 1935, Serial No. 46,294 11 Claims. (01. 30-51) This invention relates to safety razors, and is will depend upon the design of the holder in more especially concerned with those razor strucwhich the blade is to be used. For a more detures in which narrow razor blades are used. tailed description of the construction and method In any safety razorit is important to be able of manufacture of these blades, reference should to adjust the exposure of the sharpened edge of be made to the pending application above rethe blade; or, in other words, to adjust the deferred to. gree by which said edge projects beyond the The blade holder or razor per'se resembles in guard or other part or. parts of the razor holder general organization the holder shown in Patent which serve to limit the approach of the cutting No. 1,858,223. It comprises a cap 3 and a guard edge to the users face. In those razor struc- 4 h n ed t g h all 5 thattheseparts can tures in which double edged blades, or other be relatively moved to clamp a blade between blades of considerable width are used, provision them. Extending from the cap 3 and rigid has been made for making this adjustment. therewith is the split shank 5 of the razor handle These arrangements, however, are not suitable which also includes a grip portion 6. Slidably for use in those razors designedto takenarrow mounted in the handle is a plunger 1 having 15 blades. So far as we have'beenable to learn, j screw threaded edges to engage an internally no razor of the latter type has been available threaded sleeve% which is rotatably mountedon heretofore in which such an adjustment can be therholder atapproximately the junction of the made. To devise a thoroughly practical solution shank and grip portions, the arrangement being for this problem forms the chief object of the such that the sleeve can rotate freely but is held present invention. against movement longitudinally of the handle. The nature of the invention will be readily un- A link lll connects the upper end of the plunger derstood from the the following description when l with an arm or lu w h -S rearwardread in connection with the accompanying draw- 1y from the guard- 4. Consequently, when. the ing, and the novel features will be particularly sleeve 8 is rotated it moves the plunger 1 in or 525 pointed out in the appended claims. out, depending upon the direction of said rota- In the drawing, tion, and this motion is transmitted to the guard 'Fig. l is a perspective view of a razor holder 4 and results in swingi g the guard toward and a blade therefor, the holder being constructed from the cap 3.

in accordance with this invention; and As clearly shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, the lower 30 Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are side views illustrating the surface l3 of the cap 3 is curved or has the shape upper part of the holder shown in Fig. 1 with of a small section of a cylinder. The upper the blade positioned therein, and illustrates difsurface I l of the guard 4 1S e po y ferent adjustments of the blade. curved. Consequently, when the parts 3 and 4 The blade holder shown in the accompanying 0f the. holder are closed tightly to clamp the 5,

drawing is designed more especially for use with blade 2 securely between them, they bend the razor blades of the type shown and described blade transversely in a manner similar to that in pending application Serial No. 629,451; filed above described as common heretofore. When August 19, 1932, now Patent No. 2,030,833 althe holder clamps the blade tightly, as shown in though not limited to use with such blades. The Fig. 4, the cutting edge I) of the blade will lie in, {40

blade shown in said-application usually is made or very slightly below, the dot and dash line in of relatively thin stock, having a thickness somesaid figure. But as the guard 4 is dropped slightwhere between five-thousandths and eightly the blade will tend to straighten and the edge thousandths of an inch. It may be made of any b will rise to a point above said dot and dash line,

of the grades of steel which are commonly used as illustrated in Fig. 3. 'When adjusted in this 45 in the manufacture of safety razor blades of the manner the razor will give a closer shave than it thin type. Preferably it is made of a stainless will when the parts are in the relationship shown steel such as that now used in the manufacture in Fig. 4. of the best safety razor blades. The blade com- The blade clamping parts 3 and 4 of the holder prises amain or body portiona of uniform thickare so shaped as to provide a groove l5 for the 50 ness, a hardened and sharpened edge b, and a reception of the rib c of the blade. Due to the grooved portion 0 forming part of the body porfact that the guard lswings about the axis of tion of the blade and extending along the margin the pivot 5 as the holder is opened, the groove of the blade opposite to the edge b. The di- 15 gradually widens while this opening movement mensions of the groove or hollow rib c necessarily occurs. This is illustrated in-Figs. 2 and 3. It is 55 necessary to hold the blade securely in all positions of its adjustment for the shaving operation. Furthermore, it would be difficult, if not impossible, with very narrow blades to obtain the desired range of adjustment of the cutting edge b with reference to the guard and cap of the holder merely in the manner above described while still clamping the blade with the desired degree of firmness. For these reasons the rib c is made somewhat wider than the width of the groove [5 when the holder nevertheless is narrow enough so that the blade can be inserted endwise into the holder when it is partly open, as illustrated in Fig. 1. Thisrib portion of the blade has a relatively high degree of elasticity or resiliency and consequently, when the holder is closed after the blade has been inserted, the rib will be compressed transversely in a direction approximately parallel to the width of the blade. As the holder is opened, the rib c expands transversely and completely fills the groove l until the holder has been opened beyond the mere' range of adjustment and far enough to permit the blade to straighten. Consequently, the rib anchors the rear margin of the blade firmly in the holder throughout the entire range of adjustment.

In addition, the expansion of the groove or rib increases the adjusting movement of the edge b. It will be observed that when the adjusting or opening movement of the guard 4 begins, the angle l6, Fig. 4, which fits into the corner in the blade, begins to move forward or toward the right. The expansion of the rib 0 holds the blade firmly against this angle 16 as the opening or adjusting movement of the guard 4 continues. The cap 3 remains stationary. Consequently, the expansion of the rib 0 moves the cutting edge of the blade forward with reference to the cap at the same time that the blade straightens, and it therefore increases the exposure of the cutting edge or, in other words, increases the distance by which the cutting edge projects beyond the forward edge of the cap 3. The degree of exposure of the cutting edge, and consequently, the character of the shave obtainable, is determined both by the extent to which the blade is flexed, bent or sprung between the faces I3 and I4, and also by the degree to which the edge of the blade is projected by the expansion of the groove or rib c; or, in other words, by the degree to which the rib is transversely compressed or deformed by the walls of the groove in the holder.

A substantial and very fine adjustment of the position of the shaving edge b with reference to the guard and the cap thus can be obtained simply by turning the sleeve 8 backward slightly after it has been tightened up to clamp the blade securely in the holder. In all positions of adjustment the blade is backed up by the rib c which fits snugly in the groove Hi, this rib also serving to take up any vibration and shock to which the exposed edge portion of the blade may be subjected. Preferably the cap 3 is provided with a rib I? which extends into the groove 0 and cooperates with the parts of the guard adjacent to the angle IE to grip a portion of the wall of the groove or rib.

In addition to the foregoing, the rib on the blade and the groove in the holder cooperate to locate the blade accurately in the holder. Furthermore, the arrangement is such that a new blade can be inserted endwise into the holder,

is closed, but

forcing the old blade out, which is an advantage inmagazine loading or feeding of the blades.

While we have herein shown and described a typical embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

Having thus described our invention, What we desire to claim as new is:

1. In a razor structure, the combination of a holderincluding parts relatively movable to clamp a blade between them in position for shaving, said parts being shaped to receive a hollow rib formed in said blade, and means for relatively moving said parts to squeeze said rib transversely so as to reduce the over-all width of the rib.

2. Ina razor structure, the combination of a holder including parts relatively movable to clamp a blade between them in position for shaving, said parts being shaped to receive a hollow rib extending longitudinally of said blade, and means for relatively moving said parts to squeeze said rib in a direction approximately parallel to the width of the blade.

3. In a razor structure, the combination of a holder including parts relatively movable to clamp a blade between them in position for shav- .ing, said parts being shaped to provide a groove to receive a hollow rib extending longitudinally of said blade in a direction generally parallel to the edge of the blade, and means for relatively moving said parts to reduce the width of said groove and thereby to squeeze said rib transversely.

4. In a razor structure, the combination of a holder including parts relatively movable to clamp between them a blade having a fiat por tion and a rib to secure said blade in position for shaving, said parts being shaped to provide a groove in which to receive the rib of said blade, and means for relatively moving said parts to reduce the width of said groove and thereby to squeeze said rib, and approximately simultaneously therewith to clamp the fiat portion of said blade.

5. In a razor structure, the combination of a cap, a guard, means associated with said cap and guard for relatively moving them to clamp between them a blade having both a flat portion and another portion provided with a hollow rib, said cap and guard having blade engaging surfaces cooperating to act on the grooved portion of said blade to contract said portion in the direction of the width of the blade.

6. In a razor structure, the combination of a cap, a guard, means associated with said cap and guard for relatively moving them to clamp between them a blade having both a flat portion and another portion provided with a hollow rib, said cap and guard having blade engaging surfaces operable to bend the flat portion of said blade transversely and to squeeze the rib of said blade in the direction of the width of the blade.

'7. A razor blade holder comprising a cap and a guard hinged together for relative closing movement to clamp a blade between them and for relative opening movement to release the blade, said parts being shaped to provide a groove for receiving a rib projecting from the blade, and said groove being so positioned that it will be narrowed in width by said closing movement and will be widened by said opening movement.

8. A razor blade holder comprising a cap and a guard hinged together for relative closing movement to clamp a blade between them and for relative opening movement to release the blade, said parts being shaped to provide a groove for receiving a rib projecting from the blade, and one of said members having a part to enter said groove when the holder is closed, the groove being so located with reference to the hinge that the opening movement of said holder will widen the groove and the closing movement of the holder will reduce the width of said groove.

9. In a razor structure, the combination of a cap, a guard, means associated with said cap and guard for relatively moving them to clamp between them a blade having a hollow rib extending longitudinally of the blade in a direction generally parallel to the edge of the blade, said structure being provided with a groove to receive said rib and said groove being so located with reference to said cap and guard that the closing movement of them reduces a transverse dimension of the groove and thereby operates to transversely compress said rib.

10. In a razor structure, the combination of a holder including parts relatively movable to clamp between them a blade having a fiat portion and a rib to secure said blade in position for shaving, said parts having members constructed to clamp and flex both the flat and ribbed portions of the blade, and means for relatively moving said parts in one direction to produce said clamping and flexing action and in a different direction to release said blade.

11. In a razor structure, the combination of a holder including parts relatively movable to clamp between them a blade having a flat portion and a hollow rib to secure said blade in position for shaving, said parts being shaped to provide a groove to receive the rib of said blade and also having portions for clamping the fiat portion of the blade, one of said parts having a flange to extend into said groove and to cooperate with a portion of the wall of the groove to clamp the rib of the blade, and means for relatively moving said parts to apply clamping pressure to said flat portion of the blade in a different direction from that applied to said rib by said. flange and the cooperating portion of the wall of said groove.

RALPH E. THOMPSON. CHARLES J. EMERSON. BENNETI'T G. JANSSON. 

